Latin music festival to bring top names, fashion, pop culture to San Antonio

By Hector Saldana :
August 28, 2012
: Updated: August 29, 2012 7:11pm

Sheila E. is scheduled to perform at Festival People en Español Sunday night at the Alamodome.

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Luis Miguel will headline Festival People en Español Sunday night at the Alamodome.

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Puerto Rican reggaeton star Daddy Yankee is scheduled to perform Saturday night at Festival People en Español at the Alamodome.

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Olga Sharer shows off her colorful garden in Lytle.

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Angel Ferrer (left) and Chris Perez (Selena's husband) of The Chris Perez Project will perform at Festival People en Español, 3:10 p.m. Sunday at the Convention Center. The daytime events at free.

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Tejano singer Élida Reyna and Michael Salgado are scheduled to perform at Festival People en Español 4:30 p.m. Sunday at the Convention Center. The performance is free.

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Mexican Telenovela star/singer Maite Perroni Beoriequi will give a Q&A at 3:15 p.m. Saturday at the Convention Center for Festival People en Español.

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Lorena Rojas and Mario Cimarro star in "El Cuerpo del Deseo." Rojas will give a talk at 1:15 p.m. Sunday at Festival People en Español at the Convention Center. The daytime sessions are free.

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Puerto Rican merengue superstar Olga Tanon is scheduled to perform for Festival People en Español Saturday night at the Alamodome.

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Puerto Rican boxer Miguel Cotto will speak at Festival People en Español, 11:15 a.m. Sunday at the Convention Center. The session is free.

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El Cata is scheduled to perform at Festival People en Español Saturday night at the Alamodome.

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Singer Larry Hernandez is scheduled to perform at Festival People en Español Sunday night at the Alamodome.

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Singer Sie7e is scheduled to perform at Festival People en Español Saturday at the Alamodome.

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Q&A with Telenovela superstar David Zepeda at 11:50 a.m. Sunday at the Convention Center for Festival People en Español.

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DJ Juan Magán and musician Sheila E. are scheduled to give a talk on "Crossing Cultural and Musical Barriers" at Festival People en Espanñol 2:05 p.m. Sunday at the Convention Center. The session is free.

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Sebastien De La Cruz of "America's Got Talent" is schedule to perform at 11:50 a.m. Saturday at the Convention Center for Festival People en Español. The session is free.

Photo By Wilfredo Lee/Associated Press

Prince Royce is scheduled to perform Sunday night at the Alamodome for Festival People en Espanñol.

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Tito "El Bambino" is scheduled to perform Saturday night at the Alamodome for Festival People en Español.

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AB Quintanilla will have a busy Saturday at Festival People en Español. At 1:15 p.m., he participates in a talk titled "Selena's Legacy, Fotos y Recuerdos: A Conversation with the Quintanilla Family;" and at 4:15 p.m., Quintanilla & Kumbia All Starz performs. Both sessions are free and at the Convention Center.

Photo By Christopher Polk/Getty Images

Matt Hunter, "The Newest Voice in Latin Pop," performs at 2:10 p.m. Sunday at the Convention Center for Festival People en Español.

Last summer, international Latin pop superstar Luis Miguel enjoyed a deafening reception from some 6,000 fans at the AT&T Center.

Mexico's answer to Frank Sinatra better brace himself for even more thunderous applause Sunday when he headlines one of the Alamodome concerts at Festival People en Español.

Sponsored by Target, the two-day Labor Day weekend Latino music, fashion and pop-culture festival and fan fair Saturday and Sunday offer free daytime events at the Convention Center followed by nightly concerts (requiring tickets) on its maiden voyage.

This is the first time People en Español magazine has staged a festival this big, and there's talk that this could become San Antonio's version of the Essence Music festival in New Orleans.

Make that People en Español's vision of what an S.A. music festival should be, with youth-oriented urban pop and hip-hop, banda, reggaeton, meringue, rock en Español, mariachi and club music from mostly outside the region.

“The thinking behind the event was to bring the magazine to life,” said Isis Sauceda, Los Angeles bureau chief.

Concert industry insiders from Gary Bongiovanni at Pollstar to David Chavez at Kansas-based LatinPointe (who tried his hand at reinventing the 30th annual Tejano Music Awards two years ago) say that San Antonio is a natural location.

City official Felix Padrón, director of cultural affairs, called it a coup and echoed the sentiments.

“San Antonio is a city that represents sort of ‘the new America,'” Padrón added.

“It's a great branding opportunity. Sometimes we have to bring the outside world to us to give the opportunity for them to see who we are and how great this city is.”